Cuba: “Fidelito”, eldest son of Fidel Castro, puts an end to his life

Ⓒ AFP/Archives – ADALBERTO ROQUE – | Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, eldest son of former president Fidel Castro and nephew of the current Cuban president committed suicide on February 2, 2018

Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, the eldest son of Fidel Castro and nephew of current Cuban President Raul Castro, committed suicide on Thursday at the age of 68 after struggling for several months against “a deeply depressed state,” La Havana.

“The doctor of science Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, who was followed for several months by a group of doctors because of a deeply depressed state, ended his day today first February in the morning,” said Thursday evening the official daily Granma on its Internet portal.

The one the Cubans knew as “Fidelito” was initially required for hospitalization, and later he was kept on ambulatory treatment during his social reintegration, “Granma said without further details.

The news of the suicide, also announced on the evening news, took the population by surprise only 15 months after the death of his father, who died on November 25, 2016 at the age of 90.

The eldest child of Fidel Castro, born before the Castro revolution, had inherited the features and stature, usually wearing the same beard necklace. It was the first marriage of Fidel Castro with Mirtha Diaz-Balart, daughter of a Cuban politician of the 1940s.

After the couple’s divorce in 1955, the battle for the custody of the child – finally won by Fidel Castro – gave rise to a veritable saga rich in twists and turns.

After the victory of the Cuban revolution in 1959, his mother had to go into exile and now lives in Spain. She has, however, been able to visit Cuba several times in recent years.

– Nuclear Expert –

Ⓒ AFP/Archives – Dominique FAGET – | idel Castro Diaz-Balart, eldest son of former president Fidel Castro and nephew of the current Cuban president committed suicide on 2 February 2018

The Diaz-Balart family remains one of the pillars of Cuban exile based in Miami, Florida, and “Fidelito” had for cousin the Republican Mario Diaz-Balart, fierce anti-Castro today sitting in the House of Representatives.

Many Cubans discovered him as a child when he appeared in an olive green uniform alongside his father at the time of his triumphant entry to Havana on January 8, 1959.

Born on 1 September 1949, “Fidelito” was sent by his father to the Soviet Union to study nuclear physics, a field in which he held senior posts from 1983 to 1992, before being sacked and then appointed vice-president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, a position he held until his death.

He also held the honorary title of “Scientific Advisor of the State Council”, the highest organ of the Cuban government chaired by his uncle Raul Castro since 2008.

During his last public appearances, he had conducted interventions on the theme of nanoscience, in which he specialized at the request of a government wishing to play a pioneering role in the field.

At the funeral of his father, he had been seen alongside his five half-brothers – Antonio, Angel, Alex, Alexis and Alejandro – born from the union of Fidel Castro with his widow Dalia Soto del Valle.

The other natural girl of “Lider Maximo”, Alina Fernandez, resides in the United States. The result of an extramarital relationship with Natalia Revuelta, she is known for her virulent charges towards her father and the Cuban communist government.

“Fidelito” leaves behind two children, Fidel Antonio, 37, and Mirta Maria, 34, born from a first marriage with Russian Olga Smirnov.

The date of his funeral will be set by the family, said the official press.